Both in 2010 and 2013, the Baltimore Ravens knocked the New England Patriots out of the playoffs here at Gillette Stadium. They’re favored to eliminate Baltimore by seven points on Saturday afternoon, while the ‘total’ is set at 47.5.

RAVENS – PATRIOTS POINT SPREAD PLAYOFF GAME 2015:

1. Why the RAVENS will cover the spread: There’s something about the Ravens this time of year that has to be bothersome to the rest of the NFL. It’s tough to forget the magical run Baltimore went on two years ago when it pulled off the stunning upset in Denver en route to the Super Bowl. It’s the defense which is really playing at its best right now for the Ravens. Ben Roethlisberger had nowhere to throw the ball for the most part against the Baltimore secondary last week, and Terrell Suggs was all over the place as well.

Sure, Tom Brady can get the ball out of his hands in a hurry, but if the Ravens continue their aggressive-style of defense, one which will almost force Brady to hang onto the ball just a tad longer than he wants to, T-Sizzle and Elvis Dumervil could have huge impacts on this game.

2. Why the PATRIOTS will cover the spread: Many perceive the Patriots to be the best team in the NFL, and it shouldn’t go without notice that they have had essentially two full weeks to get ready for this game. All too often, we see the underdogs get after it early, only to fall apart later on in these games. That New England defense deserves a heck of a lot of credit for what it has done of late. The team has held eight straight foes under their scoring averages for the season, many by wide margins.

If the ‘D’ can hold the Ravens in the teens in this one, Brady and the offense should do the rest, knowing that this unit (not including Week 17) averaged 34.5 points per game in its last serious 10 games of the regular season.

3. Total Talk RAVENS/PATRIOTS: The ‘under’ is 4-0-1 in Baltimore’s last five games overall. However, here in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Pats are 4-0-1 ATS in their last four. New England closed out the regular season with ‘unders’ in five of their last six games overall, though it should be noted that it didn’t play most of its regulars for more than just a short period of time in Week 17 against the Buffalo Bills.

4. Betting Trends for RAVENS/PATRIOTS: These two teams have met three times here at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs in the last five seasons, and Baltimore is 2-1 SU and 3-0 ATS in those three games. The SU winner of each, for good measure, went on to play in the Super Bowl in each of the last two. The Ravens are 6-0 ATS in their last six playoff games overall. New England is a perfect 8-0 ATS in its last eight home games against teams with winning records.